The NC State men’s hockey team added another accolade to its historic season with a win at nationals as the Wolfpack defeated the No. 2 seeded Northern Colorado Bears 6-5 Saturday afternoon in Plano, Texas.
The Pack (1-1-0) relied on quick responses and steady pressure to give it the edge over the Bears (0-1-1) and preserve its tournament life. Early contributions from the younger members of the Wolfpack team and a great showing by both of its special teams also contributed greatly to the win.
The tournament nerves seemed nonexistent for the Wolfpack who capitalized early in the first, as freshman Miles Ferrone got a fortunate bounce to give NC State the early lead. The Pack kept the pressure coming and later in the first, after a successful penalty kill, freshman Parker Szarek ripped a shot top-shelf to push NC State’s lead to 2-0. The Bears got one back in the dying minutes of the first, but NC State would enter the first intermission ahead 2-1.
Northern Colorado opened the second with a wraparound goal 35 seconds in and quickly followed that up by capitalizing on a five on three power play to give the Bears a 3-2 lead five minutes into the period.
The Wolfpack attempted to seize the momentum from Northern Colorado a few minutes later as senior Tyler Alfonzetti scored his second goal of the tournament to tie the game back up at 3-3. The Bears, however, responded a minute later on the power play to push its lead back up to one.
NC State finally got its power play kicking when senior captain Sam Bansiewicz backhanded a rebound past Northern Colorado’s goaltender pulling the Wolfpack back to even. Again, the Bears answered the bell within a minute to take a one-goal lead that it would carry into the second intermission.
The third period saw the Wolfpack looking up at a one-goal deficit after they had ended the first up by one. The Pack never stopped coming and the once struggling power play came through once again as sophomore Cam Mazikowski lasered a wrister from the point to tie the game at five barely under the halfway mark of the third period.
Things looked to be heading to overtime, but NC State had a bit left in the tank. Freshman Alex Robinson scored on a three-on-one rush with only 1:54 remaining in the game to give NC State back the lead for the first time since the first period. The Wolfpack and senior goaltender Joey Hall held on to give NC State its first win in pools.
The Pack outdid the Bears in special teams as it went 2 for 3 on the power play and 2 for 5 on the penalty kill, of which one of the goals allowed was a five-on-three. NC State looked strong out of the gate and, with its all-around team success, looks poised to pick up another win.
The Pack will take on No. 3 Trine Sunday at 2 p.m. for a chance to advance to the ACHA national semifinals.
